One man’s fiscal problem is another man’s lifeline. Trigger happy bureaucrats and economists may love shooting down subsidies because it bloats the fiscal deficit and burdens the government but the simple fact is that in a one billion strong nation, in which nearly one in every three live below the poverty line, one needs an effective and efficient method through which privileged tax payers can support the poor. Last week, finance...

The Supreme Court dismissed the government’s review petition in the Vodafone tax case on Tuesday, affirming its January ruling that put overseas transfers of shares outside the Indian tax net. The review petition and last week’s budget proposals seeking retrospective changes have revived the uncertainty over tax laws, according to government officials, the Planning Commission and businesses. If Parliament passes the budget in its current form, the judgement in the Vodafone case...

-The Hindu Business Line A Government report has called for enhancing investment in agriculture and leveraging technology to boost the country's farm sector growth in the years ahead. The report ‘State of Indian Agriculture 2011-12,' released by the Agriculture Ministry on Tuesday, called for institutional reforms in research set up to make it more accountable and geared towards delivery, conservation of natural resources such as water and land among others. “Achieving a 8-9...

-PTI Biotech (Bt) crop technology has more than doubled India’s cotton production, a government report card said today, calling for more such revolutions. “By 2011-12, almost 90 per cent of cotton area is covered under Bt cotton and production has more than doubled. ... more such revolutions to accelerate agri-growth are needed,” said the State of Indian Agriculture 2011-2012. Cotton crop yields have gone up almost 70 per cent and export potential...

-Reuters India's move to strip German drugmaker Bayer of its exclusive rights to a cancer drug has set a precedent that could extend to other treatments, including modern HIV/AIDS drugs, in a major blow to global pharmaceutical firms, experts say.  On Monday, the Indian Patent Office effectively ended Bayer's monopoly for its Nexavar drug and issued its first-ever compulsory license allowing local generic maker Natco Pharma to make and sell the drug...